salvation
Is the “final judgment” really final?
What the Bible doesn't say about hell
Take & read: New books in global Christianity
Faith’s core and its manifestations across cultures
selected by Philip Jenkins
Biblical hospitality
Joshua Jipp's book does something few biblical scholars attempt: it offers explicit proposals for the church.
by Greg Carey
In Dante, love is stronger than hell
Vittorio Montemaggi shows how important it is not to get stuck in the inferno.
Three ways Buddhism has shaped me as a Sri Lankan Christian
The church of my youth taught me that salvation means having arrived. My Buddhist neighbors showed me otherwise.
Faith on the edge: Writer Dennis Covington
"Belief is not the 'substance of things hoped for.' Faith is."
interview by Elizabeth Palmer
How wide is God’s mercy? The Holy Spirit in other religions
Could the Spirit's love be poured into the hearts of people untouched by the incarnation? Could non-Christians be lovers of the only God there is?
A savior, not a hero: Jesus never shows up too late
I know what Jesus is doing in this story; I have three small children. He's dawdling.
Mercy, by Walter Kasper
Walter Kasper contends that mercy is one of those words that we use without really grasping its profundity.
reviewed by Lawrence S. Cunningham
Why the cross? God’s at-one-ment with humanity
Some questions won't go away. The creed says Jesus was crucified "for us," but what do those two little words mean?
Grace before anything
Since childhood, I've been uncomfortable with the idea that accepting Jesus is an automatic ticket to heaven—and with the reverse idea.
A hopeful universalism
God's "consuming fire" is the fire of holy love. It doesn't await sinners in the future; it burns up sin itself.
Other sheep
There is salvation in no one else. And he has other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
By Steve Pankey
Sunday, October 9, 2011: Philippians 4:1-9; Matthew 22:1-14
We might Bible-study our way through most of this difficult parable, but what do we do with the guest who is pulled in off the streets and then kicked out?
Sunday, August 29, 2010: Luke 14:1, 7-14
In Williamsburg, Virginia, where I live, the fraternities and sororities of The College of William & Mary invite new members in (and leave others out). What's in and what's out translates cunningly into who's in and who's out.